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TRP: Jonn, Roddy, and Luci (Sterling-Bell)
IZZY The Sanctuary of Eldath, Day 260, the day before before the battle. Jonn had gotten a little scratched up getting away from the orc encampment. It was nothing serious -- no one'd spotted him, or anything, he'd just kind of taken a fall in the woods on the way back. He was focused. He was fine. It was just a stupid fucking root tripping him up. He didn't hide in the woods for ten minutes by himself for no reason, or anything. It was weird being back at the Sanctuary. Weirder because people were moving around setting traps and barricading and arguing about strategy, always coming and going with new information or news of a fresh assassination. Hansel, Goro, Mishka, and Wyn were around a table, talking about the parley, and Hansel glanced up as Jonn passed by, giving him a worried look but drawn back to the conversation. Jonn tracked down Luci instead. He knew she was tired, and didn't have much magic left, and he wasn't even that hurt -- he just kind of wanted someone to care about him for a second, and he knew she would. And she did -- frowning at the scrapes on his face and making him sit down in the kitchen where she was overseeing an inventory of their food supplies, in case there was a siege and they had to be careful about rationing. It was too loud in there, though, so she pulled him off to the library. It was always quiet, there, even now -- deserted. She fixed his face, and then curled up next to him, squished side-by-side in an oversized plush chair. Just taking a moment. ABBY Now, Roddy was no stranger to hectic. He'd grown up in a circus-- if that wasn't hectic then what was? Well. He'd have to say that an Abbey preparing for a siege was. Maybe it was the undercurrent of fear. They were preparing for a fight for their life. And if that didn't also set Roddy on edge. So he headed off, looking for some corner to tuck into. When Mishka had a minute Roddy was gonna see about going to Glimmerton-- Vaala might give them a hand, and the town guards too-- but for now Roddy... needed a second. He found the library, echoing and empty. Or so he thought at first. Turns out there were two people already there-- people that perked Roddy right up to see. "Hey Jonn, hey Luci!" he called in a stage-whisper, waving and coming to rest his arms on the back of their chair. "You taking a second too?" IZZY Jonn had been keeping an eye out while Luci half-dozed, and he didn't realize he'd zoned out until he heard Roddy's voice, and twitched. Some great lookout he was. It was okay, though; Luci lifted her head sleepily and blinked, and looked back to wave. "Yeah." Jonn rubbed at his eyes. "Been busy. How's ... whatever stuff they told you to do going?" ABBY "Pretty good. Me and Larkin hit Skyport, she got some Redbirds to come help and I tracked down Asya. She's helping out too!" Roddy was pretty sure he had more friends and family together now than he'd ever had before. Kinda sad that it was happening when they were all about to fight for their lives. IZZY Jonn's shoulders pulled in and he grimaced before he could think to not. "Asya's here?" Her hands on his face, shushing him hoarsely as Amren fucked with his brain. Over and fucking over and over. His fingernails dug into his palms. ABBY Uh oh. That hadn't been the reaction Roddy was expecting. He shot Luci a worried look and slowly reached down to pat Jonn's shoulder. "Um. Yeah? She's gonna help us fight the orcs. Is that... okay?" IZZY "Yeah, maybe she'll ... fuckin' get killed," he muttered. He didn't even think he meant that, but it came out anyway. Luci blinked at him twice, lost, then glanced to Roddy. ABBY Well. That was alarming. Roddy shrugged at Luci and went to go drag another chair closer, where he could see them better. Gave him a second to think. Seemed like Jonn was mad at Asya. Maybe it was just a little spat though. Stuff like that happened. Roddy'd flipped out at Hansel over a couple papers one time, maybe it was fine. "So uh. So... you guys have a fight or something?" Roddy asked, once he'd fiddled and fussed with his chair. IZZY The time it took Roddy get settled in gave Jonn a moment to loosen up his fists, but then he just fidgeted in place. Luci frowned, putting a hand on his arm. He hadn't told her these things, or Hansel, or either -- neither of them even knew Asya. And he hadn't told Finch, because he did know Asya and he might do something about it, or something. He hadn't told anyone. Anything. He wished Gwydion were alive, because he could've told him, but he fucking wasn't. "Kinda?" he managed after a beat, staring down. "Kinda. I just don't wanna talk to her. She doesn't know I'm mad at her." He looked up. "Don't tell her." ABBY "Oh uh, okay." Well. Maybe this was a good thing! If Asya didn't know Jonn was mad at her then maybe it was minor. Roddy got overly worked up about things sometimes, maybe Jonn had too and he knew it so. He was trying to get better without bothering Asya with it! Yeah. This was sound logic that did not lead to any sort of alarming conclusion what so ever. Therefore it was perfect. "Well, um. I hope you two make up soon. I like hanging out with you. Both of you." For good measure he reached over and patted Jonn's shoulder again. IZZY Jonn kept fidgeting, picking at the cuffs of his sleeves. He twitched a little at Roddy patting his shoulder. (It was Roddy. This was safe. He was safe.) "Yeah," he mumbled. He missed Asya. She was always teleporting in and saving him from shit. He'd really liked hanging out in the bunker with her and Roddy and Finch. He'd wanted to introduce her to his little sister, because she'd lost hers. But she'd pinned his arms after Wyn made him kill Helena and let Amren fuck around in his head. She'd kept doing it. She'd let Gwydion die. She hadn't saved him from shit -- she'd let him lose control, and break the rules, and then every time she'd petted his hair and taken him home like nothing had happened. Like they'd just been out drinking. Like she cared about him. "Yeah, well," he managed, "she shouldn't've fucking let Amren fuck up my memory, and shit. She was part of all that. She's a fucking traitor. We're not friends." ABBY Wait-- what?? This was not a spat! Roddy shot Luci a panicked look. This was serious and bad and Roddy-- Roddy didn't know what to say. Asya was his friend-- Amren was his brother (a terrible brother, but still). But Jonn-- Jonn was his good brother. This was... it was a mess. "Yeah uh. Dad... told me. About you remembering and stuff." You know hugs helped Jonn. Roddy shifted so he could wrap an arm around Jonn's shoulders. It was awkward but who cared. "M'sorry you had to... lose a friend. With this." IZZY Jonn sniffled, wrapping an arm around Roddy. That was ... that was okay. Roddy wouldn't hurt him. He was a good brother. Except he'd thought Asya was a good sister, and she wasn't, she never fucking had been, she'd been doing this shit to him the whole time (what if Roddy was doing something like that; what if all the Graverunners were in on it; what if Hansel --) His fingernails dug into Roddy's shell, grinding against it, and he pulled away. Oh, he was crying. That again. There had to be some kind of fucking limit on how much a body could cry. He wiped his sleeve across his face. "S'okay." He sniffled again. "I'm just ... not gonna talk to her 'til I know what to say. I don't ... really want her to die," he admitted quietly. "Kind of miss her. S'just fucked up." ABBY "Yeah," Roddy agreed quietly. Jonn was letting go-- that didn't normally happen was that a bad sign?-- so Roddy did too. Didn't completely pull back though, awkwardly sitting half in his chair, half leaning over into Jonn and Luci's. "It... is. I could um. I could talk to her for you? See what she has to say and... relay it maybe?" That was a helpful offer, right? IZZY "Mmm." Jonn made an uncertain sound. "I dunno. I dunno, I mean --." The way she'd petted his hair, like she was trying to comfort him, instead of fighting for him or getting him away. When they were supposed to be friends. "I mean, maybe after this is over. I just wanna avoid her for now." He was quiet for a beat, then remembered Roddy was trying to help, and looked up with an attempt at a smile -- definitely not his best attempt. "Thanks, though. It's really nice of you to try. You're a good brother." It was partially to remind himself. Roddy was really good. Roddy hadn't ever hurt him and had always looked out for him, even before they were brothers. He was the good kind of family, the real kind. Yeah. ABBY Aw. Jonn didn't look that great. Looked kinda sick, really. But considering what was going on-- yeah. Roddy didn't blame him. He smiled back and started picking at the arm of the couch. Jonn was his brother. But so was Amren. And Amren had... Well. There was no doubt in Roddy's mind that Amren wasn't the least bit regretful for what he'd done, and would gladly do it again. "Hey look. I just... I want you to know. That if you run into Amren again... don't... don't let him being my other brother... stop you or anything," he said haltingly. "He's... dangerous and evil and I want you to stay safe. Okay?" IZZY Jonn gave him a blank look. "You mean I can kill him?" Hansel said self-defense was okay. And Amren had hurt him a fucking lot -- Hansel wouldn't be mad at him for it. So if Roddy was okay with it too ... ABBY Roddy flinched. "Uh. Yeah. That's... what I'm saying." IZZY Jonn squinted at him a little. He didn't seem ... happy about it. He wouldn't be okay. But it was really nice of him to say it, anyway, and he was pretty sure he even meant it. Jonn didn't think he'd do it, anyway. It was fine if he got hurt, but Roddy getting hurt was different. It wouldn't be worth it. "Okay," he said, though, quietly, and, "Thanks," again. Luci glanced at him. She could usually tell when he was full of shit. And she was different now. She might kill Amren herself. Or Asya, for that matter. Huh. ABBY Roddy gave a jerky nod. Right. Now he just had that hanging over his head to deal with later. Sometimes he almost wished they had killed Amren so Roddy could mourn him and move on. Except that was a terrible thought and now Roddy was feeling worse. "Hey uh. You know before we all blaze into battle and possibly die-- I've been thinking about something." IZZY "We're not going to die," Luci interjected firmly, and Jonn glanced at her. She was good at keeping people from dying, yeah. Magic ran out, though. He didn't say that, and curled his arm around her and wiped at his face again, instead. He was totally fine. "Yeah? Thinking about what?" ABBY Well they sure were gonna do their best to not die. Didn't want to bicker about that though so Roddy let that thought stay in his head. "Well you know. We've got all these people changing their names now and stuff. And I was thinking about that too. M'not really attached to 'Hammerstein' and all." IZZY The two of them gave him equally blank looks for a moment, then Luci piped up, "Oh, are you going to change it to 'Bell'? Hansel would love that." Jonn nodded. That made sense, yeah. ABBY "Well-- yeah. That." Roddy fidgeted again. They'd also likely love the other part too. Still, what if they didn't? (They would though it'd be fine.) "But also you know. Some people have two last names. So I was thinking... Sterling-Bell? If you guys don't mind." IZZY "Ohh," Luci said, not sounding like she got it at all. Jonn immediately burst into tears, curling into himself and hiding his face in his hands. "Oh," Luci said again, patting his back. ABBY "Jonn?!" Roddy started to reach for him again-- but then he was why Jonn was crying! Better not. "Is it-- is this a happy cry or a sad cry?" IZZY "Oh, um." Luci kept patting his back. Jonn often wasn't able to answer questions like that, and truth be told, she wasn't sure either, so she decided to say the thing that would be less distressing for Roddy. "It's happy. He's just ... very emotional, right now." ABBY Oh. Well, that was good then! Roddy perked up and reached over to pat Jonn's shoulder. "Hey y'know. You and Luci are my family too. I love you guys. You're the best siblings." IZZY Jonn muffled a wail behind his hand. Luci was right, though. He should be happy -- Roddy was happy. Roddy thought they were both great, and loved them, and he was right about Luci. Maybe Jonn should change his name. So he wasn't associated with them at all. No, then they'd just be sad about that. He guessed he'd just decide to be okay with it, even though he was awful, and a liar, and a ruiner, and should be dead. Roddy didn't know those things. Knowing them would just upset him, or worse, Jonn would infect him somehow. (That was what the clerics had said. Jonn was a bad apple. He'd spoil the whole bunch. He should be alone, or in Skyport, where things were already rotten.) That was pointless to think about. He choked off the end of a sob and snorted and scrubbed his sleeve over his face again. "Yeah," he managed, gasping a breath in, then getting a deeper one. He grinned at Roddy, putting everything he had into it. "Yeah, that's great. That's really --" he sniffled -- "I'd really like that. I love you, too." Once he was at least pretending to be all right, Luci looked to Roddy, smiling, and nodded. "We are family, either way." ABBY For being happy, Jonn sure was wailing like something was wrong. He needed a proper hug. Roddy pushed up out of his chair so he could gather both his siblings in his arms, squeezing them both. "We are family," he re-affirmed. And Roddy was gonna have a new name to reflect it. Roddy Sterling-Bell... that felt good. (Maybe Dad'd happy-cry too when Roddy told him?) "You're both... okay though? Happy with this?" Luci hadn't reacted really. Though they had got distracted with Jonn having a moment. IZZY Jonn nodded eagerly and hugged Roddy back, desperate to sell it. Luci patted his shell. "Yes." She was tired, but sounded pleased and emphatic. "I think that's wonderful. I'm really happy." ABBY If it was anyone but Luci, Roddy might doubt how happy she was. But Luci was like that. Not very expressive. So Roddy believed her. And this was great! He had a new name, tying him more solidly to the people in his family. Roddy Sterling-Bell. "Make sure to put that on my gravestone if things go really sour tomorrow." IZZY Jonn found that a little too distressing to address, but Luci calmly answered, "Oh, no, if we go down it will be together," which didn't particularly make him feel better. ABBY Normally, that wasn't the sort of thing that Roddy found reassuring. And-- okay yeah it wasn't quite reassuring this time either. But it was sweet anyway, the idea of them all going down together. "Well I'll just have to tell some more people then. If we lose it won't help but if we win then somebody oughta still be around to remember." IZZY "We won't lose, anyway," Luci said, just as firmly. "We can tell everyone ourselves." "Yeah," Jonn tried. "Yeah, it'll be ... fine." What would Hansel say? "Don't even worry about it." ABBY "I'm a worrywart. I am gonna worry about it." It was nice though, that they were trying to help. "M'not... too worried though. After... some of the things I've seen," (Diva) "just dying isn't as scary any more." IZZY Jonn sniffled again. "Yeah." "No dying and nothing worse is going to happen," Luci persisted. More quietly, she added, "But I think it's quite normal to be afraid." ABBY "Hey I know you'll do your best to keep it from happening. And that helps. We got a whole bunch of clerics here as backup too." Hey, Roddy was talking himself out of being worried. A little. "But y'know, I am always scared before we go into a battle. Big one, little one, doesn't matter. Who knows what's gonna happen? So, you remember too Luci." He reached out and booped her nose. "S'okay to be afraid. But me and Jonn are gonna watch your back too." IZZY Luci blinked at the boop, and bluntly said, "We'll probably be stationed in different places. I'm a cleric. I'll be watching your backs." Jonn snorted and wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Luci." "Oh. Oh, you're being comforting." She nodded her understanding and smiled. "That's nice of you. I'm not afraid, though." ABBY Roddy shook his head, grinning. Luci, Luci, Luci. She was sure her own person. Great though. "Yeah well maybe it makes me feel better to comfort you," he said. And hey maybe that wasn't just Roddy joking around. Huh. "You, and Dad, and freaking-- everyone else it seems like," Roddy grumbled good-naturedly. "No fear in you at all. I don't get it." IZZY Jonn sniffled. He was scared as fuck. No one was supposed to know, though, so he didn't say anything. He couldn't get scared -- he was the big brother. He had to take care of them, and of Hansel, too, keep him from worrying. He wished Finch were here. Or Gwydion, but Gwydion -- "Fear is a useful emotion," Luci said, like she was reciting it from memory. "But not in cases like this. It's good at telling you when you should run away, but ... we already decided to not run away." She glanced down, but tapped her staff against the floor like that was that. ABBY "Well. You certainly got a way of looking at it." If it made her feel better though-- yeah. Roddy wasn't gonna argue. Even though the thought of the battle tomorrow made his heart pound harder. "Y'know one of the worst things though? The waiting. Part of me hopes tomorrow never comes and part of me... wants it to be over already." IZZY She nodded, and was quiet for a moment. "It's easier after everything's over with," she said. "I'm used to taking care of people once things are done. It's -- harder, in the thick of things, I suppose." She looked back up, and glanced at Jonn for a moment. "But we'll take care of it. Like Hansel says. No one's taking our home." At some point, Jonn had thought that maybe, somehow, he really was Hansel's son -- by blood. When he'd thought they were the same. They weren't, though, because no one had ever been like Jonn, including his actual parents, and his sister, too, and not Helena, and Mishka, and not even Gwydion, really. Luci, though -- sometimes lately, she really did seem like Hansel's. And Roddy did, too, the way he always tried to take care of things and make people happy, and he had this naive thing in him that Jonn wanted to protect. And he had all this love, and Jonn didn't know where it came from, but it just didn't stop. Jonn sniffled again, and nodded in agreement with Luci. "Yeah. The waiting sucks, but at least we're waiting together, right? And when it's over we'll be together, too." He held out his pinky finger. "Promise." ABBY Roddy linked his finger with Jonn's, and held out his other pinkie to Luci. "Yeah. Promise. We'll take care of each other. Like we always do." It'd be dangerous, and Roddy was still scared-- and he knew how he was, he wouldn't stop being scared till the fighting was over. But there was people to watch his back-- and people who Roddy was gonna watch their back. And that gave him courage to face the future. IZZY Luci blinked, then hooked her finger with Roddy's and held the other to Jonn, who took it so that they were all linked together. "Promise," she said. END Title: Sterling-Bell. Summary: Before the Battle of Sanctuary, Roddy tracks down Jonn and Luci and asks them if he can share their name. They're into it. They also talk about Jonn's memory being fixed, and Roddy finds out about Amren and Asya's involvement. Category:Text Roleplay